Understandably so, to put things in perspective, millennials have the buying power of 600 Billion in the United States each year.

In fact, along with their tremendous buying power, millennials are on pace to become the nation’s largest living adult generation in 2019.

Research shows that by this time next year, millennials may spend as much as $1.4 trillion annually. That is insane!

With all this being said, in order to market to millennials, you must stay quick on your feet. Research shows that there are challenges due to millennials using a wider range of devices as well as consuming content on fragmented channels.

Another important factor to consider is that traditional digital strategies are not as effective due to Millennials’ demand for more authentic advertising experiences.

It’s crucial to gain a deeper understanding of how to target, reach, and engage in order to ultimately convert sales from millennials.

Understanding Their Behavior

Millennials “Live” on their phones, that is obvious. In fact, eight out of ten spend at least 3 hours on their devices daily, with one out of five spending 6 hours or more per day.

A recent study conducted by the Harris Poll, millennials actually spent 5x more time on their mobile devices versus watching live TV. This basically means that more than one third watch ZERO live broadcast television. That is pretty shocking.

Meet them where they are

As the millennial generation integrates digital devices into their everyday lives they are also changing the way they shop. Millennial customers expect to be known and understood, and they want to purchase from companies that value their unique identity.

They will not just go with what their parents bought like previous generations. Millennial consumers are breaking the chains, and essentially marching to the beat of their own drum.

Millennials desire “one on one” engagement, and brands to acknowledge their customer wants and needs as well as deliver authentic personalized experiences.

The goal for businesses is to evolve their strategies to truly embrace the one-to-one engagement that will unlock the power of data-driven, people based marketing. With the end goal proving to deliver the desired personal and valued engagements that resonate with the millennial generation.

It is proven that videos appeal to potential consumers on an emotional level. This will help you separate yourself from the crowd as well as increase conversions and encourage repeat customers.

Get Creative with your advertising

Standing out is half the battle.

Implementing innovative marketing strategies will generally perform better with millennials versus your standard push marketing techniques. This is due to millennials being fed up with traditional forms of advertising. It’s important to understand that millennials want information when they want it, instead of having it forced upon them.

Millennials are used to technology and they consume information when and how they want to.

Segment Millennial Markets

Not all Millennials respond to the same messaging. More importantly, considering the age gap for millennials, grouping an entire generation of people into one marketing demographic also isn’t feasible or productive. Instead, segmenting different campaigns for the customers most likely to respond to them will go a long way toward making your message resonates.

It’s important to keep the focus on the “ideal consumer” versus the “millennial. This proves to generate a higher ROI.

It’s important to mention, rather than thinking about which generation you’re targeting, think about which person or persona you’re trying to reach. It is important to understand your specific customers, what they watch and where they consume their media.

Support a worthy cause with your business

There are numerous benefits that come from finding a cause to support. Supporting a good cause is a perfect way to provide an additional incentive to your buyers and make the world a better place in the process. Plus, millennials really appreciate supporting worthy causes.

General practices such as supporting a cause and using creative advertising methods will certainly help, but you’ll also need to segment your audience and then create high-quality messaging in the mediums that most resonate with those segments.